Last March, Missionary Howard Molhke and I made our first visit to a church in the Republic of Congo. The ROC, which is commonly referred to as Congo-Brazzaville, neighbors the Democratic Republic of Congo to the northwest. This is the first time ever that WELS missionaries have traveled to this country. The Eglise Evangélique Luthérienne du Congo-Brazzaville (EELCB) reached out to WELS and the One Africa Team because they wanted to remain a confessional Lutheran Church. 

Searching the Scriptures

We met all 10 pastors in the EELCB. The WELS’ process for establishing formal relations with another church body begins with a preliminary visit. In a preliminary visit, our goal is to learn as much as we can about a church body. Also, we provide information about the history of the WELS and working with OAT.

The first two days of our meetings were about their church. We also worked through the pamphlet, “What the Bible and Lutherans Teach,” an overview of doctrine. We used this document to discover our common beliefs and to identify topics that need further study. We also studied Ephesians chapter 2, and discussed the practice of baptism.

Meeting the Members

We visited four churches and met some of the members of EELCB. It was amazing to see their push to worship in places where they have only a roof and no real building. I am meeting online regularly with EELCB leaders to continue discussions. We are already making plans for future in-person meetings to continue our process of establishing fellowship. 

The work in the ROC is a great example of the opportunities for outreach that God is presenting the OAT here in Africa. We help church bodies that want to be confessionally Lutheran. In addition, we are pursuing relationships with churches that are already confessional Lutherans and desire contact with others. The One Africa Team is developing a large network of confessional Lutheran churches across Africa. This may have been the first time for WELS missionaries to visit the Republic of Congo, but it certainly will not be the last.

Missionary Jake Vilhauer lives in Zambia and coordinates outreach efforts to French-speaking Christians living in Africa.

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news, and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa

French ministry in Africa is growing day by day. The One Africa Team is currently working and in contact with ten different francophone church groups in various countries. One of these churches is the Mission Evangélique Luthérienne au Congo (MELC) from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Travel Challenges

MELC’s church headquarters are located in Lubumbashi, a town close to the border of Zambia. Because of the conflict in DRC, the MELC church leaders travel across the border to meet us in a town in the northern part of Zambia called Ndola. This is a great blessing because we are still able to work on growing our relationship with our Congolese brothers, even though we are currently unable to travel to their country.

CICR Meetings

This past January, we moved another step towards growing closer with MELC. On this trip, we brought Professor Brad Wordell from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary to join us in our meetings with church leaders. Prof. Wordell serves WELS not only as a professor, but he also serves on the Commission of Inter-church Relations (CICR).

Bringing a representative from CICR to evaluate MELC’s church constitution and confession of faith is a vital part of our four-stage process in establishing formal fellowship with our partners in Africa. We were able to discuss in detail these documents, as well as plans for ministry training and our goal of growing together in God’s Word.

Spirit-filled Worship

While we were in Ndola with MELC, we organized a joint worship service. Approximately twenty-five MELC members from Lubumbashi travelled down to Ndola to participate. It was a great opportunity to experience how our brothers and sisters worship, as well as listen to their choirs who sang in both French and Swahili!

We look forward to growing even closer together with our French-speaking brothers, and we pray that God continues to grow their ministry in the DRC. We also continue praying for political peace so that we might one day return to the DRC to visit our new friends at their local churches.

Missionary Jake Vilhauer lives in Lusaka, Zambia

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news, and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa

Jake Vilhauer recently graduated from Martin Luther College (MLC) and is a new missionary for the One Africa Team.

Coming out of Martin Luther College I initially planned on becoming a high school history teacher. In history teacher fashion, here’s a crash course of the last eight months of my life. I was informed that I was being considered for an international call. I accepted that international call. I graduated from MLC and announced my call to my family, who were shocked – the understatement of the year.  I got married to Maddie Hockenbery on the 1st of June and shipped off to Zambia in August.

Learning Curve

Ten days after arriving in Zambia, my wife and I left for France to begin our French-speaking journey. We stayed in Strasbourg and went to French school every day, starting from scratch. Thanksgiving came quickly, and we left France to live with another missionary family in Douala, Cameroon to learn more French and to learn about West African culture. Soon we will return to Zambia and settle down in our own place.

The work that I have been able to do as a missionary with the One Africa Team is awesome, to say the least. I have worked with multiple groups of potential partners. Four seminary teachers from West Africa came to Douala and I helped them with educational strategies for the future. I have also taught online TELL classes with people all over Africa, studying the Bible in depth.

God’s Plan

There have been some challenges with being away from family, learning a new language, and learning a new culture. However, these past months have helped me to grow in my faith and learn how to work on a team. Although we are far from our families in the States, we were instantly provided with new families on the mission field. There has not been a lack of support from anyone, and I am truly grateful for that.

The past five months away from home have been a whirlwind. I never thought I would be a missionary. I would joke with Maddie about going abroad to annoy her. I had not heard of a World Missions call from MLC. People say that God hears our plans and laughs – that was true in my case. In the last year, God allowed me to graduate from MLC, receive and accept a World Missions call, get married, learn a new language, and live on three different continents. I pray that God blesses our missionary work here in Africa.

Jake and Maddie Vilhauer live in Lusaka, Zambia

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news, and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa